BLOG: HOW HAS NURSING INFORMATICS AND TECHNOLOGY IMPACTED YOUR PRACTICE?
RESPOND
Read a selection of your colleagues’ blog posts and respond to two of your colleagues by expanding upon their responses or sharing additional or alternative perspectives.
Quennie XSerenity Main Post
I got my Information Technology (IT) degree before becoming a nurse. I wanted to do some coding and information management. It really helps me differentiate between a variety of software programs for charting. And boy, do we do a lot of charting as nurses. As an essential part of nursing practice, documentation accounts for more than one-third of nurses’ time (35.3%) (Mayer et al., 2022). Meditech is my least favorite, but I would rather have Meditech than do paper charting, and Epic is one of my favorites. We use Allscripts right now where I work. Barcode medication administration or barcode scanning plays a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of care and safety in my nursing practice (Grailey et al., 2023). It allows me to scan the patient’s wristband before I scan the medications. It’s still important to ask them their name and date of birth to be certain that we have the right person for the medication.
References:
Grailey, K., Hussain, R., Wylleman, E., Ezzat, A., Huf, S., & Franklin, B. D. (2023). Understanding the facilitators and barriers to barcode medication administration by nursing staff using behavioural science frameworks. A mixed methods study. BMC Nursing, 22(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01382-x
Mayer, L., Xu, D., Edwards, N., & Bokhart, G. (2022). A Comparison of Voice Recognition Program and Traditional Keyboard Charting for Nurse Documentation. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 40(2), 90–94. https://doi.org/10.1097/CIN.0000000000000793
Nursing informatics uses information technology and nursing science to manage data and information and communicate in nursing practice (Garcia-Dia, 2021). Informatics is pivotal in improving patient care, facilitating communication, supporting decision-making, and enhancing clinical workflows (Garcia-Dia, 2021). Informatics competencies have revolutionized various aspects of care, including how nurses interact with patients and collaborate with other healthcare professionals (Strudwick et al., 2019). Nursing informatics enable nurses to enhance the quality of care delivered to patients and safety. This discussion will explore the role of informatics competencies in enhancing the quality of care and safety in my nursing practice.
Explore the pivotal role of informatics competencies in enhancing the quality of care and safety in My nursing practice.
Informatics competencies such as electronic health records (EHRs) significantly enhance my nursing practice by enhancing documentation (Li et al., 2022). It helps healthcare professionals to document patient information, thus minimizing errors accurately. The electronic health record also ensures that a detailed record of the healthcare information is readily available, which assists in making informed healthcare decisions (Li et al., 2022). The other competency is clinical decision support, which provides healthcare professionals with analysis tools, guidelines, and drug databases to help guide their care decisions (Sutton et al., 2020). This leads to improved safety, timely interventions, and better patient outcomes.
The other informatics competence is telehealth, which facilitates remote monitoring of symptoms and vital signs. Remote monitoring of patients ensures that healthcare providers identify warning signs early enough and administer interventions to prevent worsening symptoms (Gajarawala & Pelkowski, 2021). Telehealth technology has dramatically improved healthcare access and efficiency as providers can provide care to patients remotely (Gajarawala & Pelkowski, 2021). Moreover, informatics systems are equipped with tools that facilitate patient education. Nurses use this feature to empower patients to participate in the care and improve adherence to treatment plans. Also, patients are educated about their health conditions, the available interventions, and the healthy behaviors they should engage in to improve the quality of outcomes (Garcia-Dia, 2021). Furthermore, informatics competencies help improve collaboration between healthcare professionals through teleconferencing.
Informatics competencies such as barcode medication administration (BCMA) help enhance patient safety and reduce the risk of adverse events (Barakat & Franklin, 2020). Informatics competencies such as electronic medication administration records (eMAR) reduce the risk of medical errors (Iqbal et al., 2021). It ensures that healthcare professionals administer the correct medications and dosage at the right time (Iqbal et al., 2021). Analysis tools are informatics competencies that allow healthcare professionals to identify trends and patterns in clinical data (Strudwick et al., 2019). The data analysis results help identify areas of improvement and interventions that can enhance the quality of care and safety.
In conclusion, various informatics competencies enhance my nursing practice’s quality of care and safety. For instance, electronic health records enhance documentation and reduce errors. Similarly, clinical decision support helps to guide the decisions made by healthcare professionals, thus improving the quality of care and safety. Moreover, telehealth facilitates remote monitoring of symptoms and vital signs and improves access to healthcare. Competencies such as eMAR and BCMA help to enhance care quality and safety by reducing the risk of medical errors.
References
Barakat, S., & Franklin, B. D. (2020). An Evaluation of the Impact of Barcode Patient and Medication Scanning on Nursing Workflow at a UK Teaching Hospital. Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland), 8(3), 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy8030148Links to an external site.
Garcia-Dia M. J. (2021). Nursing informatics: An evolving specialty. Nursing management, 52(5), 56. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000743444.08164.b4Links to an external site.
Gajarawala, S. N., & Pelkowski, J. N. (2021). Telehealth Benefits and Barriers. The journal for nurse practitioners : JNP, 17(2), 218–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2020.09.013Links to an external site.
Iqbal, A. R., Parau, C. A., Kazi, S., Adams, K. T., La, L., Hettinger, A. Z., & Ratwani, R. M. (2021). Identifying Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) Usability Issues from Patient Safety Event Reports. Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety, 47(12), 793–801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2021.09.004Links to an external site.
Li, E., Clarke, J., Ashrafian, H., Darzi, A., & Neves, A. L. (2022). The Impact of Electronic Health Record Interoperability on Safety and Quality of Care in High-Income Countries: Systematic Review. Journal of medical Internet research, 24(9), e38144. https://doi.org/10.2196/38144Links to an external site.
Strudwick, G., Nagle, L., Kassam, I., Pahwa, M., & Sequeira, L. (2019). Informatics Competencies for Nurse Leaders: A Scoping Review. The Journal of nursing administration, 49(6), 323–330. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000760Links to an external site.
Sutton, R. T., Pincock, D., Baumgart, D. C., Sadowski, D. C., Fedorak, R. N., & Kroeker, K. I. (2020). An overview of clinical decision support systems: benefits, risks, and strategies for success. NPJ digital medicine, 3, 17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-020-0221-yLinks to an external site.
Both Quennie XSerenity and Solomon Soroibe Okwueze have provided insightful perspectives on how nursing informatics and technology have impacted their practice. I would like to expand on their points and provide additional insights:
- Integration of Nursing and IT Backgrounds: Quennie Xserenity’s background in information technology (IT) before becoming a nurse is a unique advantage. Her familiarity with software programs and information management gives her an edge in navigating the various systems used for charting. This highlights the importance of interdisciplinary skills in the nursing profession. Nurses with IT backgrounds can contribute significantly to the adoption and optimization of technology in healthcare settings. Additionally, Quennie’s preference for certain electronic health record (EHR) systems like Epic over others underscores the need for user-friendly interfaces in nursing informatics solutions. User experience plays a crucial role in the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare technologies.
- Enhancing Documentation and Safety: Solomon Soroibe Okwueze emphasizes how informatics competencies, such as EHRs and clinical decision support systems, enhance documentation accuracy and patient safety. Electronic documentation minimizes errors and ensures comprehensive records that support informed decision-making. Furthermore, the implementation of barcode medication administration (BCMA) and electronic medication administration records (eMAR) significantly reduces medication errors, improving patient safety. This highlights the transformative impact of technology in reducing adverse events and enhancing the quality of care.
- Telehealth and Remote Monitoring: Solomon Soroibe Okwueze rightly points out the importance of telehealth technologies in facilitating remote monitoring of patients’ symptoms and vital signs. Telehealth not only improves access to healthcare services but also enables early intervention and preventive measures. By leveraging telehealth platforms, nurses can extend their reach beyond traditional healthcare settings, providing continuous support to patients in their homes. This demonstrates how technology enables patient-centered care delivery models and promotes health equity by overcoming barriers to access.
- Data Analysis and Continuous Improvement: Solomon Soroibe Okwueze briefly mentions the role of informatics in data analysis for identifying trends and patterns in clinical data. Data-driven insights enable healthcare professionals to identify areas for improvement and implement interventions to enhance care quality and safety continuously. By harnessing the power of big data analytics, nurses can optimize care delivery processes, personalize interventions, and predict potential health outcomes. This underscores the importance of ongoing evaluation and optimization of informatics solutions to drive continuous quality improvement initiatives.
In conclusion, both Quennie XSerenity and Solomon Soroibe Okwueze provide valuable perspectives on the impact of nursing informatics and technology on their practice. Their insights highlight the transformative role of technology in enhancing documentation, promoting patient safety, improving access to care, and driving continuous quality improvement in healthcare delivery. As technology continues to evolve, nurses must adapt and leverage these innovations to optimize patient outcomes and advance the nursing profession.